Part 6
#
By some miracle he was not stopped anywhere between Sunnydale and Los Angeles, even though he had broken just about every speed limit his aged car was capable of breaking. He had left a message at the office for Cordy and Wesley, telling them what he had learned in the barest words.
He was not sure if they understood anything. The blasted cell phone had died on him again somewhere in the middle of it. The damn things never worked.
Angel finally approached Sunnydale's city limits, habit making him check the time. Plenty of time until sunrise. More than enough time to find them, or so he hoped.
Just thinking about what could happen ... no, he couldn't think about that right now.
Without warning his cell phone rang. Typical, he thought. Now, when he didn't have the time, the damn thing started working again. Whoever had invented these things must have been some kind of evil power.
Without slowing down he flipped the cell open.
"Yes?"
"Angel? It's Wesley," the newest member of Angel Investigations said.
"Now is a really bad time, Wesley," Angel answered impatiently.
"I understood as much from the incomplete message you left on the answering machine. Something about Buffy ..."
"Yes, but I don't have time right now. I'm in Sunnydale and I have to find them."
"I understand, Angel, I do, but Cordelia just had a vision you might want to know about. Before you ask, it concerns Buffy."
Angel's knuckles whitened as he gripped the steering wheel harder, almost tearing it off. His eyes were frozen on the road, navigating the shortest way towards Giles' apartment without breaking for stray cats of pedestrians.
"Yes?" he asked, afraid of what he might hear.
"Apparently something big is going to happen in what looks like the ruins of some kind of laboratory installation. Cordelia saw Buffy and quite a few of her friends there."
Laboratory installation? That could only mean the Initiative base. Angel quickly turned the car around, the wheels screeching across the street. For a moment he almost lost control of the fishtailing vehicle, but then he was back on the road, speeding toward the Sunnydale university campus.
"Anything else?" he asked Wesley.
"Apparently the vision was of a more vague nature this time," Wesley said, "and so Cordelia isn't quite sure about a lot of details. She only said something about incredible pain and Buffy arguing with herself before ..."
"... before what?" Angel asked when Wesley wouldn't continue.
"... before ... before she ceased to be," the former Watcher finished.
Angel just nodded. He already knew that something terrible had happened and that it could only end with ... no, he wouldn't think about that. Not yet. Not until he had seen it with his own eyes.
"Angel, are you still there?" Wesley asked.
"I'm here, Wesley. Did she see more?"
For a moment there was silence. "She tells you to hurry, Angel," Wesley said eventually, his voice grim.
Angel nodded, mumbled a consent into the phone, then hung up. Wesley hadn't seen a whole lot of the group dynamics between Cordelia and the rest of the Scooby Gang, especially Buffy, but he knew enough to realize that Cordelia would never tell Angel to hurry to Buffy's side unless the situation was especially dire.
The university campus came into sight, much of it still a disaster zone. The area around the big crater was closed off with lots of people standing around, making sure no one got too close. Military operatives, all of them. General Allen had become very talkative, faced with a pissed-off Vampire. Seeing the scale of this operation, Angel had no doubt that enough firepower was gathered here to stop an army.
Or maybe a runaway magical super soldier android.
Fortunately the General had also provided Angel with the means to enter this closed-off area. Angel's car screeched to a halt just outside the perimeter and two armed guards were already closing in on him. They wore FEMA jackets, but Angel could spot the bulks of weaponry beneath those.
These men moved like trained killers.
"I'm sorry, sir," one of the guards said, his voice friendly, one hand casually resting close to the hidden weapon. "This area is off-limits. Please turn your car around!"
"I'm from the General's office," Angel said, fishing out the access card Allen had given him.
The two guards looked at each other for a long moment.
"We weren't informed of any visitors tonight," one of them said.
"I just work here, okay?" Angel told him with an impatience that was very much non-fake.
One of the guards produced a scanning device and ran the card through it. After a few seconds it chirped and the man's features relaxed a bit.
"Sorry for the delay, sir." He handed the card back. "Security must be maintained."
"Certainly," Angel said, ducking under the tape that closed off the area. "How many people are down there right now?" He asked, motioning toward the crater.
"No one, sir," the guard answered. "The recovery specialists have turned in for the night. We have standing orders not to have any people in there except when accompanied by the experts."
Figured, Angel thought. Maggy Walsh's dangerous toys might blow a few more unsuspecting soldiers to bits if not handled correctly.
"Should I wake them, sir?"
"No reason. I just need to take a quick look inside. Won't take long."
The guard seemed a bit uncertain, but Angel didn't wait for him to protest. Walking toward the crater with a firm stride he gave every indication of having every right to be here and do whatever he wanted to do. The guard didn't call after him.
He might just call the General. Seeing as said General was probably still unconscious on the floor of his office Angel doubted he'd get disturbed in the next half hour or so.
One way or another, this wouldn't take long.
Angel started running as soon as he was out of sight of the guards. He just hoped he was in time.
And not two weeks too late.
TO BE CONTINUED
#
By some miracle he was not stopped anywhere between Sunnydale and Los Angeles, even though he had broken just about every speed limit his aged car was capable of breaking. He had left a message at the office for Cordy and Wesley, telling them what he had learned in the barest words.
He was not sure if they understood anything. The blasted cell phone had died on him again somewhere in the middle of it. The damn things never worked.
Angel finally approached Sunnydale's city limits, habit making him check the time. Plenty of time until sunrise. More than enough time to find them, or so he hoped.
Just thinking about what could happen ... no, he couldn't think about that right now.
Without warning his cell phone rang. Typical, he thought. Now, when he didn't have the time, the damn thing started working again. Whoever had invented these things must have been some kind of evil power.
Without slowing down he flipped the cell open.
"Yes?"
"Angel? It's Wesley," the newest member of Angel Investigations said.
"Now is a really bad time, Wesley," Angel answered impatiently.
"I understood as much from the incomplete message you left on the answering machine. Something about Buffy ..."
"Yes, but I don't have time right now. I'm in Sunnydale and I have to find them."
"I understand, Angel, I do, but Cordelia just had a vision you might want to know about. Before you ask, it concerns Buffy."
Angel's knuckles whitened as he gripped the steering wheel harder, almost tearing it off. His eyes were frozen on the road, navigating the shortest way towards Giles' apartment without breaking for stray cats of pedestrians.
"Yes?" he asked, afraid of what he might hear.
"Apparently something big is going to happen in what looks like the ruins of some kind of laboratory installation. Cordelia saw Buffy and quite a few of her friends there."
Laboratory installation? That could only mean the Initiative base. Angel quickly turned the car around, the wheels screeching across the street. For a moment he almost lost control of the fishtailing vehicle, but then he was back on the road, speeding toward the Sunnydale university campus.
"Anything else?" he asked Wesley.
"Apparently the vision was of a more vague nature this time," Wesley said, "and so Cordelia isn't quite sure about a lot of details. She only said something about incredible pain and Buffy arguing with herself before ..."
"... before what?" Angel asked when Wesley wouldn't continue.
"... before ... before she ceased to be," the former Watcher finished.
Angel just nodded. He already knew that something terrible had happened and that it could only end with ... no, he wouldn't think about that. Not yet. Not until he had seen it with his own eyes.
"Angel, are you still there?" Wesley asked.
"I'm here, Wesley. Did she see more?"
For a moment there was silence. "She tells you to hurry, Angel," Wesley said eventually, his voice grim.
Angel nodded, mumbled a consent into the phone, then hung up. Wesley hadn't seen a whole lot of the group dynamics between Cordelia and the rest of the Scooby Gang, especially Buffy, but he knew enough to realize that Cordelia would never tell Angel to hurry to Buffy's side unless the situation was especially dire.
The university campus came into sight, much of it still a disaster zone. The area around the big crater was closed off with lots of people standing around, making sure no one got too close. Military operatives, all of them. General Allen had become very talkative, faced with a pissed-off Vampire. Seeing the scale of this operation, Angel had no doubt that enough firepower was gathered here to stop an army.
Or maybe a runaway magical super soldier android.
Fortunately the General had also provided Angel with the means to enter this closed-off area. Angel's car screeched to a halt just outside the perimeter and two armed guards were already closing in on him. They wore FEMA jackets, but Angel could spot the bulks of weaponry beneath those.
These men moved like trained killers.
"I'm sorry, sir," one of the guards said, his voice friendly, one hand casually resting close to the hidden weapon. "This area is off-limits. Please turn your car around!"
"I'm from the General's office," Angel said, fishing out the access card Allen had given him.
The two guards looked at each other for a long moment.
"We weren't informed of any visitors tonight," one of them said.
"I just work here, okay?" Angel told him with an impatience that was very much non-fake.
One of the guards produced a scanning device and ran the card through it. After a few seconds it chirped and the man's features relaxed a bit.
"Sorry for the delay, sir." He handed the card back. "Security must be maintained."
"Certainly," Angel said, ducking under the tape that closed off the area. "How many people are down there right now?" He asked, motioning toward the crater.
"No one, sir," the guard answered. "The recovery specialists have turned in for the night. We have standing orders not to have any people in there except when accompanied by the experts."
Figured, Angel thought. Maggy Walsh's dangerous toys might blow a few more unsuspecting soldiers to bits if not handled correctly.
"Should I wake them, sir?"
"No reason. I just need to take a quick look inside. Won't take long."
The guard seemed a bit uncertain, but Angel didn't wait for him to protest. Walking toward the crater with a firm stride he gave every indication of having every right to be here and do whatever he wanted to do. The guard didn't call after him.
He might just call the General. Seeing as said General was probably still unconscious on the floor of his office Angel doubted he'd get disturbed in the next half hour or so.
One way or another, this wouldn't take long.
Angel started running as soon as he was out of sight of the guards. He just hoped he was in time.
And not two weeks too late.
TO BE CONTINUED